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Organizers of a recall petition drive targeting six Joplin City Council members did not submit any petitions ahead of the deadline to have the issue considered for placement on the April 6 election ballot.
Joplin resident Abbie Covington, who is working on the petition drive that had already been put on hold once, would not say how many signatures have been obtained. She said the delay is intentional to give residents time to consider the need for a recall.
"In order to get it on the next ballot in April, we would need to turn all our signatures in by tomorrow," she said in reply to a Dec. 23 email from the Globe asking about the status of the recall drive. "But weâve decided that we want to continue the discussion with the community so we can make sure people know what theyâre voting on and make an informed decision. Far too often we tend to go vote on City Council members without actually getting to know them and what they stand for, and we donât want that to happen in this case. So we will be focusing on that discussion over the next couple of months and preparing for a special election."